Wimbledon Draw Their First League Game


Twickenham 17 v Wimbledon RFC 1XV 17

If there were points for a moral victory Wimbledon would have picked up all four available in their first league match of the season against Twickenham.

But you can't win without discipline and Dons' lack of it cost them two of those points as they had to settle for a 17-all draw.

Constantly incurring the referee’s wrath, Dons squandered the wealth of possession won by a dominant pack and gave Twickenham’s backs more ball than they could have hoped for, and from which they scored two tries totally against the run of play.

The no.10 used his powerful boot to add their other seven points. On top of the persistent infringements in the rucks brainless backchat from Wimbledon cost them two penalties at least, and probably a try too.

But ill-discipline aside, this Wimbledon team looks to have the potential for a most successful season. The known qualities of their front row trio, plus flanker Ed Lewis and no.8 Danny Craven have been bolstered by the return at lock of Brett Box and newcomers Alex Walters, Rob Tait and Richard Stewart, all of whom had fine games. Scrum-half Charlie Morgan and centres Kua Palakua and Dan Brown all made impressive club debuts too.

In a scrappy game dominated by Wimbledon it was 20 minutes before they wiped out a 3-0 deficit after a lovely break by Morgan took play into the home team’s 22 and two good scrums were rounded off by a drive over the line by Box. Fullback Leon Driscoll added the conversion but then a rare defensive error let Twickenham in for a soft try, the conversion of which gave them a 10-7 half-time lead.

An intercept converted try put them a further seven points ahead three minutes after the re-start, before a charging run by man-of-the-match Craven created a position for Morgan to squeeze over for a try and reduce the deficit to just five points. Then no.10 Dave Rees celebrated his return from a lengthy injury absence with a hallmark break clean through Twickenham’s defence and a try in the corner. Dons almost sneaked a last minute victory, but wing David Sharp had to watch in frustration as his penalty attempt slid past the upright.

September 19, 2011

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